Here, fishy fishy...

I can't remember if I mentioned, but I'm taking a handbuilding ceramics class at Togei Kyoshitsu, which I am totally loving! It's really fun and kind of soothing to sit there and mess around with clay; strangely, my favorite part is actually trimming the piece (probably because my initial efforts are all uh, kind of ugly). And check out the fish plate above--my first finished piece! I l-o-v-e my fish plate!


It just so happened that earlier in the week I had dinner with the girls and got this awesome mooncake mold (one of the girls had just gotten back from a trip to HK and China--jealous!), in the shape of a goldfish. COINCIDENCE???? Okay, yes. Yes it was. But who am I to look opportunity in the eye and ignore it? And how much more perfect can you get than a fish cookie on a fish plate?


So I whipped up a tiny batch of lime shortbread. I wanted to try to give it a more goldfish appropriate color and kneaded in a little bit of orange and yellow gel paste, but obviously didn't use enough. (Although my counter is still stained, grr.) To use the mold, you just pack the dough in until it's full, and make sure you press down to get all the details in. Then flip the mold over and give it a good, hard knock against your counter or table. It should release pretty easily (I didn't even flour the mold). I had some dough left over so broke out my other mooncake mold...waste not, want not!


I must say, I much prefer shortbread fish to mooncake fish--although when it's mooncake season again, I may do some experimenting and see if I can make my own. In the meantime, I'm going back to gazing at my fish plate and congratulating myself! (Did you notice the tiny fish stamped along the bottom?) Can't wait to see how my other pieces turn out!

The 7 Link Challenge

So this is fun! I was tagged by my buddy Megg from Pop Artichoke for this link challenge, and look, I'm actually sort of doing it in a timely fashion! Here are the rules of the game:

1) publish links for the categories below (1 link per category)
2) nominate up to 5 bloggers to take part

So without further ado:

1. The most beautiful post

Er, this one is kind of tough! I'm not sure any of my posts are really beautiful...at least, looking back through my archives, my photos have improved? Anyway I'm going with my post about coconut tapioca, just because I really like this photo! Also, the coconut tapioca is nice and refreshing, perfect for the summer!

2. The most popular post

Well, I guess I'm not surprised by this one! According to the stats on Blogger, my post on making bunny cookies for Chinese New Year is the most popular post, by far. I'm glad, because that's one of my personal favorites :)

3. The most controversial post

Er, I don't think any of my posts have been controversial, but I suppose I will use this post I did on the Chinese New Year parade from a few years ago, simply because of the slightly odd comments I got about this photo! (True, this isn't a food post, but I don't post about food all the time!)

4. The most helpful post

Alright, this one was easy--definitely my post on making my favorite dumplings. Actually I'm only saying that because I know Pyota has actually used this post to help him make dumplings ;)

5. The post that was surprisingly successful

This post on quinoa salad definitely surprised me with how popular it was, because I just had no idea quinoa was that popular! It does make me giggle how many times people get to this post though because they're searching for David Lynch's quinoa recipe; trust me, don't bother with that one!

6. The post that did not get the attention it deserved

Uh, definitely this post with my cupcake in honor of Robert Smith! Come on!! It's Robert Smith in cupcake form!! Well, anyway, *I* thought it was cool, heh.

7. The post I'm most proud of

Haha, definitely the post about winning 2nd place at the LES Girls Club Cookie Swap! I mean, first of all the post is full of cookies. Secondly, it was all for a good cause! And then, of course, on a purely selfish level, getting a giant basket of awesome stuff, meeting Julie Christopher from King Arthur Flour, and getting to chat to Miriam Eberhard. A good note to end this post on :)

Oh wait, and here are the people I'm tagging (and hopefully they haven't been tagged already!)-

Babykins from soul soup soap

Carly from Carly's Comfort Zone

Kaimono over at Gastronomy Hut

Laura from Le Petite Baker

all the things in my tummy

A catch-up post of sorts; I haven't been in much of a baking mood but I am starting to get back into a cooking mood, a bit. And of course, I am still getting quite the haul of vegetables every week from the CSA. I've taken to roasting beets and then keeping them in the fridge to toss into salads or to eat plain. Above is one of the many salads I've eaten this summer--watermelon and cucumber (based on a salad we ate at Otto), beets in honey-lime dressing, and mixed greens.


Another salad with the first of this season's tomatoes--so simple, and so delicious. It's really a genius combination!


Of course, man (or woman) does not live on salad alone, so I made a batch of zha jiang mien. It's basically a ground pork sauce with a load of vegetables in it (in my case, zucchini, onion, and carrots) that you eat over noodles. I topped mine with grated cucumber, but that's totally optional.


Last week I got this epic haul of peaches and pears; I've eaten a bunch just plain as snacks, but I'm thinking I will probably make another batch of jam (and one of plums, too!) and then I'm debating poaching the pears and making an almond pear tart. I mean, assuming things get less crazy of course!


I do love having homemade jam around though; it made this very simple breakfast of toast and peaches a little more special. And hey, peach jam, AND fresh peaches--I am definitely getting my fill of this fruit this summer!


And today, it's finally a bit cooler; cool enough to make me want some good old niku jaga. This is such a comfort food; potatoes and bits of meat (I used pork) simmered in a dashi and soy sauce broth together with carrot chunks, onions, and shirataki noodles.


And to end the weekend on a positive note--check it out! Margaret's still alive, and has started blooming again. Hooray!

More Vancouver: More Food, the Bard, Canada Day, and A Whole Lot of Flowers

Sigh, as usual, life is getting in the way of blogging--I really don't know how daily bloggers do it! They must not need sleep. Anyway, things have been busy and hectic; you'd think summer would mean things would slow down at work, but someone somewhere has not gotten the memo. So I'm a bit behind in my posting, as you can tell from the fact that I am just now getting around to finishing up writing about my vacation back in the end of June! This one is a long one...but there is food involved!

On Canada Day, we headed over to Canada Place (along with lots of other people!) to see what there was to see. There were tons of food vendors (I was intrigued by the Poutinerie, but passed. Next time...), live music, and displays from the Canadian military branches. I tried to talk Py into getting a photo of himself holding a bazooka, but he declined. Hmph.


The Olympic torch was all lit up for the occasion, and man, what a view you get from Canada Place. We walked a bit further around Coal Harbor, eventually ducking into a waterfront pub for a snack and some beer. But I know--I'm babbling. You want to see the food...


Check it out! We wanted to try out the Feastro truck and wandered over on a gorgeous, sunny day for a late lunch. I like the fact that this truck is purple--it's hard to miss, and I imagine that it's even more hard to miss now that they've been featured on the Food Networks' Eat Street.


I got the salmon fish and chips, which was pretty good, although probably not the ideal way to enjoy good salmon. Still tasty, though!


Py had the far more virtuous albacore tuna carpaccio. I like that they sauteed the capers. Of course, any virtue in this dish was undone by the yam fries.


But holy crap were these yam fries ever good! Served with a little cup of aioli, these were awesome. I really wish I had a plate right now.


My trip happened to coincide with Bard on the Beach, so it was a no-brainer to go see a show. The location (in Vanier Park with rather nice views of the water) really adds something, and I hear people will bring picnics with them, which sounds like a nice idea. We opted for beer from the concession stand and a bag of popcorn (caramel and cheese). Anyway, this is the view of False Creek from the Burrard Street Bridge (we decided to walk to the festival)--nice, right? And one of my favorite tiny ferry boats...We saw the Merchant of Venice, which I really enjoyed, particularly the (non-period) gorgeous costumes. (Actually, if I'm lucky, I may make it to another show at the end of the season!)


Okay the only reason I'm putting up this not very good photo is so that you can see the sign. Yes, it does say that they have 218 FLAVORS ON LOCATION. That is a LOT of freaking flavors!! They had some really wild ones like Vegemite, garlic, and gin and tonic, but in the end, I opted for cherry pie.


It was good, too.


On one of the (many) gray days, I headed out to the UBC Botanical Garden and went a little snap happy. Actually I guess I was also thrilled that it didn't rain! (And that I can use Zipcar in Canada--that's pretty convenient.) They had a really nice collection of plants, and my one complaint is that not everything is labelled (or if it was, the sign was hidden.) I've only included a couple of my favorite photos here (this post is already getting too long), but if you click through any of them you can see more.


One of my favorites, they remind me of icicles.



I really loved this one! So vibrant!


You could buy a combo ticket for the botanical garden as well as the Nitobe Memorial Garden (which was a short drive away), so of course I did (we'd also been foiled on a previous attempt to visit). It was a little bit underwhelming, but certainly was tranquil and green, so I wasn't too disappointed. I suppose the biggest let down to me was that the informational pamphlet was basically just speculation, and no one actually knows what the layout of the garden or some of the elements of it mean.


Someone on Flickr was kind enough to translate this; it reads "I want to become a bridge that spans the Pacific Ocean." A nice thought.


Py is perfecting his Caesar, and I personally think these little flag picks add a little something extra. (Except when they fall into your drink...)


And then it was time to go. At least I got a nice sunset before I had to get on the plane! Another nice trip.

Peach Jam!

I know, I'm crazy--I did just spend a post complaining about how hot it was, and how I didn't feel like cooking because turning on the stove or oven was just too hot. So what do I do? I make jam. JAM. I've never made jam before! I don't have any canning equipment. Well, let me tell you something--making jam is very hot work, even if it has cooled off here (the high today is a mere 81--yay!). But I had a glut of peaches to deal with and needed to clear some space in the fridge (more veggies tomorrow!).


And I have to say, I am totally in love with the idea of making jam now. Yes, it does take some time, and yes it is hot work, but gosh, it is SO COOL when you hear that loud ping confirming your jar has sealed. I used about 8 peaches (480 grams once they were peeled, pitted, and sliced) and just under half the weight in sugar, plus the juice of a lemon and a handful of candied ginger. No pectin, because I didn't have any, and for jars, I used one canning jar I had on hand and an empty jam jar for the rest (I wasn't sure if that was proper canning procedure, but it did seem to seal correctly, so I guess it's okay.) I was a bit worried about whether it would set without pectin, but it did! Okay, it's a little softer than storebought jam, but that's okay. I may try again with pectin if we get another plethora of peaches this week...


But for now, I'm pretty happy with this! I'm eating my own, homemade jam on (not homemade) toast and I feel remarkably happy for a Monday morning...

Melting

You know what, I don't even have the energy to talk about the weather. Let's just say it's hot. It was 104 degrees F when I left work yesterday and it is allegedly better today, although I wouldn't know because I haven't left the relative coolness of my apartment. I don't feel like cooking, I definitely don't feel like baking, and I don't even really feel like eating!

Fortunately, making watermelon granita hardly counts when it comes to effort. Just blend up a chunk of watermelon (I added some lemon balm from an earlier CSA pick-up), pour into a shallow container, and put in the freezer. Stir with a fork periodically as it freezes to break up the ice crystals. It feels like a treat (and it is!) but it's a damned virtuous one.


Or you can go look for the nearest shaved ice man (mine's right across the street--I can hear him now).


Anyhow, here is the haul from week 6 of the CSA, not that I have done much with it. I've eaten the komatsuna, about half of the corn, carrots, and lettuce. I would love to make peach jam with my glut of peaches, but that's going to have to wait. Maybe I should just peel, slice, and freeze them...but then I won't have space to make granita. Decisions, decisions!

Well, I'll keep it short. Wherever you are, I hope you are staying cool (this heat wave seems to have covered most of the States). I would send you some watermelon granita if I could, but I'm contemplating filling my bathtub with it....

CSA Week 5: Jap Chae, Galettes

So, how is your weekend? My Sunday is winding down (waaaaaaah) and it is H-O-T out there! So I'm hiding in my air conditioned apartment, eating watermelon, drinking iced green tea, and generally trying to stretch out my last few hours before the week starts again. This week was apparently the week of abundant fruit at the CSA; a whole load of peaches, plums, and apples (Macintosh, I think). I'm not even kidding, the fruit weighed a whole lot more than the veggies this week, and the peaches and plums have almost displaced watermelon on my "most eaten" list. ALMOST.


And here are the veggies: beets, zucchini, yellow squash, collard greens, carrots, cucumber, radishes, turnips, basil, a huge bunch of parsley, and lettuce mix. I roasted the beets and have been eating them tossed with olive oil, a bit of lemon juice, and some goat cheese--delicious! And I used up the beet greens, too, in a big batch of jap chae.


Jap chae is a Korean dish of sweet potato noodles mixed with veggies and beef and flavored with sesame oil. I dispensed with the beef and used a mix of beet greens, carrots, zucchini, and yellow squash (and a few slices of fish cake). Quick, easy, tasty, and it used up a whole lot of veggies (yay!).


I turned one of the peaches and a couple of the plums into some galettes (or tarts, or whatever you want to call them). And actually it turned out to be two peaches that got used in the end, because I must admit, I couldn't resist, er, snacking as I was slicing.


I wanted to see how a cornmeal crust would go with the fruits, and while they are not the prettiest looking things ever, I think they match quite well. The plums are especially juicy! Next time, I've got to tweak the filling a bit, and add some flavoring (maybe nutmeg? A little bit of almond? Hm.).

So I've still got collard greens and a huge bunch of parsley. I think I may make chimichurri with the parsley (and freeze it), but I'm really not sure what to do with the collard greens....and egads, it's almost pick-up day again! Better get a move on!

P.S. Bonus picture from a dinner I had with my brother and a friend earlier this week at The Spotted Pig, super yummy ricotta gnudi.